Chicken feeder



- www J. D. SMITH CHICKEN FEEDER' Aug., 7, i928,

Filed sept. 14, '1e-92e gjm/vanto@ LQM 5mi Nl iatented Aug. 7, 1928.

res FATv Medel' JOHN D. SMITH, or rrrron, INDIANA.'

CHICKEN FEEDER.

`Application'filed September 14, 1926. Serial No. 135,417.

A disadvantage experienced in the use ,of poultry feeders of common constructions is the waste or scattering of the feed bythe poultry duringthe process of feedingl by reason of billing which results in .scatter ing the feed from side to side or throwing it out of the feeder where it is wasted. An ob ject ofmy said invention is to provide a construction of feeder so arranged that the feed will be consumed by the poultry asv it is fed from the main container to the Atrough and in which the trough is separated into. several compartments, in each of which a substantially uniform volume of `feed will be maintained, so as to prevent the feed from being distributed and wasted from side to side, ,or overthe front of the trough, by the billingor pecking of the fowls, all as will I be hereinafter more fully described and v2() claimed. f ,Y l

Y Referring to the accompanyingV drawings which are made a part hereof and on which similarreference characters indicate similar parts, ,e W A l Figure 1 is aside elevation, f

Y Figure 2, a vertical section taken at right anglesto Figure 1, V y Figure 3, a. detail section on line 3-3 of Figure 2, and j Y Figure 4, a detail of one of the separators.

In the drawings reference character 10 'indicates an elongated trough having a bottom with side members 11 inclined relative thereto, the ends said, bottom and sidenmembers being provided with flanges 12 which are welded or secured in any other desired manner to end members 18 preferably rectangular in shape said end members are bent over around their margins to provide smooth edges. 1

A pair of side members are provided which have laterally extending flanges secured preferably by rivets, welding or the like to the rectangular end members 13, and said side members form with said end members a hopper or container for the material to be fed out from the same. `Each side member is provided with upper and lower portions inclined from the horizontal. The upper shorter portions 16 form a flared mouth which serves as a funnel for the'hopper while the lower portions 14 form a flared'receptacle which terminates in spaced relation from the bottom of the trough but below the upper edges of the same so that the feed for which the device is particularly designed may pack between the sides. On account of the inclination of the opposed sides, the lower portion of the hopper being larger than th-e upper portion, when the feed is pecked by the poultry from each side within the trough the feed above will slide downwardly freely into the trough. This structure will prevent clogging or stoppage of the hopper and as long as there is any feed within the same it will gravitate into position to be consumed.

In order to keep the fowls from billing the feed sideways during their feeding l provide 'a plurality of separators 17 (Fig. 4) each provided with a flange 18 adapted to be secured by welding or the like `as at 17t0 the lower portion of the side members of the feeder and having its upper portion turned over at 19 to provide a smooth edge to prevent injury to the poultry. The separater is also bent over at 2O alongits inner edge to `reinforce the same and to provide theV least possible obstruction to the passage of the mash,v from the hopper. rFhese separators are preferablyr secured Iin spaced rela; tion between the side of the hopper and the side of the trough and the upper edge of the trough is bent over .at 11 and lits into a recess 21 of the separator thus holding the same imposition, and forming an obstruction for feed which ordinarily would be pecked or Vbilled out of the trough by the poultry feeding in the bottom of the trough. rlhe partof the feed which would ordinarily be thrown out will therefore be deflected back into the trough instead of being thrown over the edges and wasted. The upper edges of the side members are bent under at 16 to reinforce the same andl a reinforcing strip 22 is secured along the upper margin of each end of the feeder and to form a support for a lid 28. The sides of the lid or top are bent upwardly and downwardly upon themselves to form smooth edges for the'lid and to reinforce the same. The ends of the lid are preferably left open so that rain lwill readily drain off the ends of the feeder instead of draining into the feed trough or down the sides of the device. The lid 23 is provided with reinforcing bars 25 which extend outwardly beyond the sides of the same and are provided at their extremities with inturned portions 26 adapted to engage the edge of the end walls of the feeder and limit the movement of the top, which is pivotally mounted by means of a bolt 27 on the reinforcing strip 22 ofthe upperendrofthe feeder. A-catch 29 is secured -at-`30, at

Substantially the middle of the side-of the feeder opposite that upon which the lid fis pivoted, forv securing the lid in elosedposition. I

In the above construction it will be understood that the edges 'off the `members `willich would normally be exposed are turned over so that the poultry `are prevented from injuring themselves 4thereon.` In order'to prevent the feederfrom beingi tipped overl provide angle 'iron -feetforside braces 35 Which-extend for vva short distance beyond thesides of the feeder.

It Willfbe obvious to those skilled in *the Y art 'that -various changes maybe made in my device Withoutdeparting from the spirit of the l:invention yand therefore I do not limit myself to what is shown inthedrawings and described Ain thespecifiesation but only as indicated in the 'appended'claims AHaving `thus 'fully described my said `invention, What-1I laim asnew and desire to secure by VLetters Patent, is: f v l. A poultry -feederromprising a trough, a Ahopperfsupported'above said trough in Y spaced lrelation to the bottom `ofthe saine and providing Aa feed `openingl Ebetween Lthe sides ofthe trough and -the hopper, isubstantially Atriangular lseparator yplates disposed transversely between the: sides ofthe trough and 'thehopper and dividing -*said 'feed openings into "compartments, said separator plates "havlngthe'lrfupperedges bent over to provide reinforcing flanges between Y theVV upper edgesv'of the trough and thesides of theY 1 isousi hopper, said separator gplates klimiting lateral flanges secured to Vthe hopper" and `having their upper portions cut away to accornrno date :the fupper @edges of the trough, a top pivotally mounted on one sideof the hopper,

,xalatehiat the opposite side of the Vhopper sides ofthe trough and theho'pper,separa-V tor 4plates :disposed transversely betweenthe sides o'f `the-*trough1and the `hopper and -dividingfsaid'ffeed Kopenings into compartments, atop pivotally mounted onfoneside of vthe lhopp'er, Jalateh 4at ithe opposite -side of thehopper ifor holding the top in Closed position, kand reinforcing lbars for eaeh end of saidtop, said "reinforcingbars having eX- tensions V"projecti'ng" beyond fthe pivotally supported side of the top, said extensions Y' bei-ng turned inwardly-to eng-age a portion of the feeder-for Elimiting thepivotal movement of the `top, substantiallyas set l'forth.

In Witnessfwhereof, IV have hereunto set my hand at Indianapolis, Indiana, *thisV 6th day oflSeptember', A. 42D. lnineteenfhundred and twenty-six'.l 5 j 

